How about six seconds? Sound impossible? On Wednesday, July 12, about twenty H&R Block volunteers with several others assembled 1256 backpacks for Project SOS in a little more than two hours. That’s one backpack completed every six seconds! What drove the H&R Block volunteers to this record pace?
It’s all about the attitude, according to Staci Kinshella, IT Senior Project Manager, who coordinated the Strength in Numbers participation. “I love the attitude H&R Block people have when they come together to do something. They pitch in and work as a team even though they may not know each other. And they make new friends as they work.”
Many of the volunteers were drawn to Project SOS because it benefits children. As Bob Drass, a founder of Project SOS and President of the Board, stuffed binders alongside the H&R Block volunteers, he explained that Project SOS has grown from serving 100 children when it started seventeen years ago to 7500 children this year.
When volunteers arrived at a warehouse in the Meritex cave in Lenexa, they found tables labeled with the appropriate grade levels set up with supplies. Assembly lines formed quickly to fill the backpacks and restock materials. Sandi McKenzie, Executive Assistant, reports, “I was impressed with the organization. It only took a short time to pick it up and everyone dove in.” Sandi observes that even though many of the volunteers didn’t know each other, the H&R Block team “is a good group that gets along and works together well.”
Even at the pace they set, the team found time for fun. The volunteers soon got into a rhythm that required teamwork and yet left time for making friends. “You feel like you’re doing something worthwhile and yet get the chance to chat,” says Meg Cronkleton, Senior QA Analyst. Linda Boyce, Senior Accountant, agrees, “I met people from different departments and it was great to joke and have a good time with co-workers.”
Some of the Strength in Numbers team made the project a family affair by bringing spouses and children to help. Meg Cronkleton liked the fact that the project gave her daughter Sarah, 14, “a chance to see all that H&R Block does outside of taxes.”
After the backpacks were completed, the Strength in Numbers crew pitched in to break down the empty cartons, clean the warehouse, and do an inventory of remaining supplies – including counting 3000 pens. “Everyone worked together so well we finished early,” Linda says, “but I was having such a good time I’m kind of disappointed we got done so soon.”
Copyright © 2006 by Terry Matz. Please do not reprint without permission.
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